REGIONAL—Should horses, mountain bikes, or ATVs be allowed on the Taconite Trail during the summer months? Would remote campsites along the route enhance opportunities for Minnesotans to spend more time in the great outdoors?

Those are just some of the questions that the public and the trails staff with the Department of Natural Resources are considering as part of development of a new management plan for the Taconite Trail.

DNR officials hosted an initial public meeting on the planning effort at the Tower Civic Center last Thursday. Several more meetings are planned as the DNR works towards completion of a draft management plan this fall.

The 165-mile trail, which stretches from Grand Rapids to Ely, is one of the backbones of the region’s network of snowmobile trails, but it’s been 35 years since the DNR first developed a management plan for the trail. The times have changed since then, said Diane Anderson, of DNR Parks and Trails, who is coordinating the planning effort.

Groups representing horseback riders, mountain bikers, and ATVers are among those looking to expand the uses for the trail, which has been limited to snowmobiles since the trail’s creation in 1980.

While the DNR is considering such changes, they likely won’t come without controversy, said Gary “Curly” Skogman, who is part of a group hoping to use portions of the trail for a regional ATV trail. A proposal to convert a section of the trail to ATV use near the Eagles Nest lakes has already prompted some opposition, he said, from residents concerned about noise.

Even advocates of more motorized use of the trail during the summer, acknowledge that allowing ATVS or other motorized vehicles on the entire trail would not be feasible. Since the trail was originally designed for snowmobiles, there was little concern about avoiding wetlands, since they were frozen during the winter months and snowmobiles have little if any impact under those conditions. That’s not the case during the summer, which means the motorized use would likely continue to be prohibited on the frequent and extensive wetland stretches along the route.

But some portions of the trail follow existing roads, old rail grades, or other areas where motorized use might be possible, said Anderson, and those segments could be considered for other uses during the summer.

Organizers of the proposed Prospectors Loop ATV trail are hoping to use segments of the Taconite to provide connections for the proposed trail, particularly from Tower to Bear Head Lake State Park and on to Ely. “We’re trying to get an ATV connection to the trail out of Tower,” said Dan Broten, another of the organizers of the proposed new trail.

But achieving that goal will likely be complicated. Even if the DNR were to agree, the agency doesn’t own easements for the entire length, according to Anderson. The trail relies on agreements from many different landowners, including some who may not be enthusiastic about other trail uses, particularly during the summer months.

“It’s definitely going to be an issue,” said Joe Majerus, with DNR Parks and Trails in Tower.

More meetings with stakeholders are ahead, and the DNR hopes to have a draft master plan available in late summer or fall. Once released, the DNR will host additional meetings and the public will have 30 days to comment. Adoption of a final master plan is expected sometime next winter.

For more information, check out the DNR’s website at www.dnr.state.mn.us/input/mgmtplans/trails/taconite.html.